Marner leads Maple Leafs in 6-2 win
over Senators in Game 1
[April 21, 2025]
TORONTO (AP) — Mitch Marner had a goal and two assists as the
Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators 6-2 on Sunday night in
Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.
William Nylander and John Tavares each had a goal and an assist, and
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Morgan Rielly and Matthew Knies also scored
for Toronto. Auston Matthews added two assists and Anthony Stolarz
stopped 31 shots.
“It was intense,” Tavares said. “It’s called the Battle of Ontario
for a reason. Hard-fought game. But we know we still can be a lot
better.”
Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig scored for Ottawa, and Linus Ullmark
finished with 18 saves.
“Have to refocus,” Ullmark said. “It’s just one game. That’s the
beauty of it.”
The best-of-seven matchup continues Tuesday with Game 2 at
Scotiabank Arena before shifting to Ottawa for two games.
The series opener marked the first playoff Battle of Ontario
showdown in exactly 21 years when Toronto bested Ottawa 4-1 in Game
7 on April 20, 2004.
The teams went in opposite directions after that, with Ottawa
enjoying a long run of success, including a trip to the 2007 Stanley
Cup final, while Toronto made the postseason just once between 2006
and 2016.
The Leafs, who beat the Senators four times in the playoffs across a
five-year stretch in the early 2000s, returned to the NHL postseason
in 2017 — the last time the Senators made it — with a young core led
by Matthews, Marner and Nylander.
The Senators’ rebuild, meanwhile, took a lot longer than expected,
but finally gained this season. Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk finally
made his playoff debut in his seventh year.
“All year we’ve talked about committing to the process,” Senators
coach Travis Green said. “It’s no different now.”
Toronto, which has one series victory in nine tries in the Matthews-Marner
era, opened the scoring at 7:09 of the first period when Ekman-Larsson
fired past Ullmark’s glove to send the home fans into a frenzy.
“The atmosphere was great,” Stolarz said. “Had goose bumps when you
stepped on the ice and the crowd goes nuts. I think that propelled
us.”
Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson cleared a puck off his goal line
later in the period, but Marner took a stretch pass from Matthews
moments later and roofed a shot with 7:42 left for a 2-0 lead.
Ottawa got on the board exactly four minutes later when Batherson
was fastest to a rebound Stolarz was unable to smother.
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Toronto Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner (16) scores on Ottawa Senators
goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) during the first period of an NHL
hockey playoff action in Toronto, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Nick
Iwanyshyn/The Canadian Press via AP)
The Maple Leafs' goalie stopped Tkachuk on a
breakaway early in the second before Toronto's power play when to
work when Tavares knocked in his own rebound at 4:07 to make it 3-1.
Toronto struck 3 seconds into a two-man advantage when Nylander
ripped his team’s fourth goal on just 10 shots at 7:19.
Toronto scored on three of six opportunities with the man advantage.
“We took too many penalties, they scored on (them) and that’s the
game,” Tkachuk said. “So that’s on us. We’ve got to be more
disciplined.”
Fabian Zetterlund had a great opportunity on an Ottawa power play
late in the period, but Stolarz was there to keep the score at 4-1
through 40 minutes.
“Timely saves are huge, especially in the playoffs,” Maple Leafs
coach Craig Berube said. “They go a long way.”
Greig got the Senators back within two exactly four minutes into the
third on a delayed penalty, but Rielly made it 5-2 just 45 seconds
later on a shot that hit a Senators player in front.
Knies rounded out the scoring on another power play with 6:47 left
to cap the scoring.
“We definitely have to stay out of the box, I’ll say that,” Green
said. “Sometimes things (get) a little out of hand once in a while.
I thought there was a couple calls that they did a good job selling,
but it’s tough on the refs.
“But we can’t take that many penalties.”
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